Q) setup of very small home isp
linxu...@yahoo.ca
Hello Everyone:
I wish to to ask a few simple questions.
I was discussing with my good young friend how to set up a very small
home isp for himself and his buddies.
He is on a very tight budget, being a student. I am also thinking that
many very poor countries
would benefit having this knowledge stated in words on the newsgroups.
I am thinking what basic telecomunications equipment is need for the
linux box.
It will be running RH.
I hope you will not take offense of these basic questions. I do not
recall seeing this
being stated in a FAQ on how to use one telephone line to allow
multiple dial ins.
My question is :
If he just uses one telephone dedicated to the box, how can more than
one person dial in? For example, I am assuming that commercial ISP do
not
buy 100 phone lines, so 100 customers can dial in at once. I only
recall seeing that each user just dials one number to get connected.
Is this a functionality of
a multiport Digiboard ? I am assuming that a Digiboard is what is used
to connect more than one
line?
Now what are all the possible ways of this person doing it?
1) Digiboard ? Do they come in 4 ports ?
Would there be a good place to get old Digiboards (2-5 years old)?
2) Modems ? Just stick 2 to 4 old modems
(jumpered to com1 to com4) into the box ?
3) Are there any other devices (serial) like a Digiboard that can make
max use of a single telephone line. eg allow more than one person to
dial in?
4) Are there other older devices with different names or similair
purposes to get more
than one person connected to a very small isp? Please give names or
some comment.
Thank you everyone so much for your help
those who know me have no need of my name
>If he just uses one telephone dedicated to the box, how can more than one
>person dial in?
it's not possible if it's an analog line. if it's an isdn line then two
users can be connected simultaneously. but in general the answer is `you
cannot have two people connected to the same modem.'
>For example, I am assuming that commercial ISP do not buy 100 phone lines,
>so 100 customers can dial in at once.
yet that's just what they do. they don't purchase as many modems as they
have customers, but they do purchase as many modems as simultaneous
connections necessary, which can be anywhere between 5:1 and 20:1, i.e., 1
modem for every 5 to 20 customers depending on the habits of those
customers. in a degenerate case you need as many modems as customers,
because they are buying/using/were-sold "dedicated" service and they never
hang-up.
>I only recall seeing that each user just dials one number to get
>connected.
this has nothing to do with the number of lines/modems you have. one phone
number can be used to access thousands of lines/modems.
>Is this a functionality of a multiport Digiboard ? I am assuming that a
>Digiboard is what is used to connect more than one line?
if each line is connected to a modem then you need to connect each modem to
something that can provide ppp to the client and ip to the internet. some
possibilities (most of which can be mixed) are:
- install internal modems in the system. must not be winmodems.
- connect external modems to com ports already in the system.
- connect external modems to a multi-port serial card, such as a boca,
digiboard or rocket.
- connect external modems to a terminal server (a livingston portmaster 2
ought to be very cheap) which connects to the network using ethernet, a
radius daemon is run on the system to authorize callers.
another consideration is how this person is going to connect to the
internet. a student on `a very limited budget' is likely to want to use
their cable or dsl service, yet most such service prohibits it. and if the
proper service isn't obtained it's likely that nat will have to be used to
share the single ip address, which has some impact on what the customers
will be able to do.
i'll use "[csu/dsu]" below to designate whatever is needed to connect this
network to the upstream service provider.
some example configurations ...
using modems connected to the system:
{internet}-----[csu/dsu]-----[linux system]
| | | | |
[...modems..]
| | | | |
{phone lines}
using a terminal server and two nics in the system:
{internet}-----[csu/dsu]-----[linux system]
|
|
[terminal server]
| | | | |
[...modems..]
| | | | |
{phone lines}
using separate router and terminal server:
{internet}-----[csu/dsu]-----[router]-----[hub]-----[linux system]
|
|
[terminal server]
| | | | |
[...modems..]
| | | | |
{phone lines}
many times the router has an internal csu/dsu, reducing the parts count of
this configuration. some routers have an internal ethernet hub or switch
too.
--
okay, have a sig then
linxu...@yahoo.ca
<not-a-rea...@usa.net> wrote:
Thank you for explaining this to me.
What do telecommunications companies like your local telephone company
call this "feature" of having more than one phone line, but all
accessed by the dial up user as one number?
eg 10 lines which are accessed by dialing one telephone number
I suppose that this is not something similar to Call forwarding ?
TIA
those who know me have no need of my name
>What do telecommunications companies like your local telephone company
>call this "feature" of having more than one phone line, but all
>accessed by the dial up user as one number?
hunt group, roll over routing, or rotary service.
dave
<linxu...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:3c472a4d...@news.bcsupernet.com...
Also ask a telco provider about PRIs (primary rate interfaces).
dave
Michael Barker
connected to that one number. So that 10 people can connect to that line
under one phone number. Talk to your local phone comapny about this subject.
-1.)You need a RAS(Remote Access Server) 2.)Seriel Modems to connect the
users. 3.)A server to hold the radius software. http://www.freeradius.org
4.)A router if you will be connected to a T1.
May I suggest using Linux for everything. And using Zoom seriel Modems. They
last a lot longer than many other modems out there. Take a look at EBAY to
see what good prices you can find on all of this equipment. And dont forget
about the CSU/DSU..:)
Thanks,
Michael B.
Little River Internet Service
<linxu...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:3c451edc...@news.bcsupernet.com...
el...@no.spam
<linxu...@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>If he just uses one telephone dedicated to the box, how can
>more than one person dial in? For example, I am assuming that
>commercial ISP do not buy 100 phone lines, so 100 customers can
>dial in at once. I only recall seeing that each user just dials
>one number to get connected.
Certainly more than one person can dial in as long as they don't
do it at the same time.
>Is this a functionality of a multiport Digiboard?
No, you'd need more than one phone line to support multiports.
>I am assuming that a Digiboard is what is used to connect more
>than one line?
It is one choice.
>Now what are all the possible ways of this person doing it? 1)
>Digiboard? Do they come in 4 ports? Would there be a good place
>to get old Digiboards (2-5 years old)?
Take a look at Byterunner if you want that few ports.
>2) Modems? Just stick 2 to 4 old modems (jumpered to com1 to
>com4) into the box ?
If you only want 2 to 4, why bother with a Digi board?
>3) Are there any other devices (serial) like a Digiboard that can make
>max use of a single telephone line. eg allow more than one person to
>dial in?
Huh? A Digi board won't make any more use of a single phone
line than a single built-in serial port will. I'm getting the
impression that you don't understand the concept of one phone
line handling one call at a time.
el...@no.spam
<linxu...@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>What do telecommunications companies like your local telephone company
>call this "feature" of having more than one phone line, but all
>accessed by the dial up user as one number?
They have several names: rotary, hunting, hunt sequence...
el...@no.spam
>>eg 10 lines which are accessed by dialing one telephone number
>>I suppose that this is not something similar to Call forwarding?
>Also ask a telco provider about PRIs (primary rate interfaces).
Also ask about POTS over T1. PRI is nice but E&M over T1 can often
be cheaper.
Justin Sitton
is virtural modem pools which are housed on telco site. The subscribing
company would handle the authentication, and have the data piped to them
over their net connection. A good feature of this setup is say if you
feel you will have a big spike of callers, just call up the telco and
tell them memorial day weekend is happening, and it's going to rain.. So
you might want to up the pool of modems up 150 higher than before
(depending on your current overbooking strategey).
DRACO-
Flames are only the wrath of the dragon, so dont flame me!